The Daily Background

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Did Vice President Cheney lobby on behalf of former Chief of Staff Lewis Libby for a full pardon, not the commutation of the prison sentence Bush ended up awarding? It sure seems like he might have, given the statement he issued this morning, still hoping against hope for Libby’s conviction to be overturned:

“…Scooter is also a friend, and on a personal level Lynne and I remain deeply saddened by this tragedy and its effect on his wife, Harriet, and their young children. The defense has indicated it plans to appeal the conviction in the case. Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man.”

It seems as though Bush is still on the fence about a full pardon however. Tony Snow is certainly leaving the door open to a full pardon:

White House spokesman Tony Snow is defending the president’s decision to commute the prison sentence of former aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, saying that Bush consulted with his top advisers before he issued yesterday’s commutation of the GOP insider’s 30-month prison sentence.

“The president has done what he thinks is appropriate to resolve this case,” Snow tells reporters, adding that the decision came after weeks of deliberations.

“The president thinks that he has dealt with the situation properly,” Snow says. “There is always a possibility, or there is an avenue open for anybody to petition for consideration of a pardon.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting today that the White House is staying mum on whether Cheney was hoping for a full pardon or not:

An unanswered question last night was Vice President Cheney’s role in advocating leniency for his former chief of staff and alter ego. The vice president has been outspoken in his admiration for Libby, even in the face of the jury’s verdict that his former aide perjured himself. “He’s one of the most dedicated public servants I’ve ever worked with, and I think this is a great tragedy,” Cheney said after Libby’s conviction in March.

One senior White House official said Bush consulted with counsel Fred F. Fielding, Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten and his outgoing counselor, Dan Bartlett, but did not mention Cheney.

A spokeswoman for the vice president said she did not know what he advised.

Update: Associated Press has more on this:

White House officials said Bush knew he could take political heat and simply did what he thought was right. They would not say what advice Cheney might have given the president.
[…]
A spokeswoman for Cheney said simply, “The vice president supports the president’s decision.”

Update 2: Even more on the possibility that Cheney was involved with the pardon:

“Everybody had an opportunity to share their views,” Snow said in the Tuesday morning press conference.

Snow later clouded up his statement that the Vice President had been involved in the deliberations.

“I’m sure that the Vice President may have expressed an opinion,” Snow said, then adding. “He may have recused himself, I honestly don’t know.”

But Snow insisted that the commutation of Libby’s sentence was not a ‘personal favor’ to Cheney.

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